Are the AIs conscious?
That is the topic of my latest Free Press column. I will spare you the discussion of the AIs, but here is what I have to say about the humans: I am here to tell you that there is no ghost in the machine. But perhaps more importantly, there is barely a “ghost” in your […]
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Are the AIs conscious? by Tyler Cowen June 10, 2026 at 1:44 pm in Philosophy Web/Tech That is the topic of my latest Free Press column. I will spare you the discussion of the AIs, but here is what I have to say about the humans: I am here to tell you that there is no ghost in the machine. But perhaps more importantly, there is barely a “ghost” in your own human machine. “Are people conscious?” is a better and more scientifically plausible question than whether AIs are conscious. If there is one near-universal tendency of humans, it is to attribute intent where none is present. Prehistoric humans anthropomorphized nature and attributed natural events to good and bad deities.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Marginal Revolution.
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